


An Sealgair agus na Fia (The Hunter and the Deer)

by ohayohimawari



Category: Naruto
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Mythology, Celtic Mythology & Folklore, F/M, Huntress! Sakura, Romance, Shapeshifting, ShikaSaku Week 2020, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26801164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohayohimawari/pseuds/ohayohimawari
Summary: A hunt leads Sakura into a cursed forest where she finds much more than game.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Nara Shikamaru
Comments: 2
Kudos: 43





	An Sealgair agus na Fia (The Hunter and the Deer)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for ShikaSaku Week 2020 Day 6  
> Event Theme: Light & Shadow  
> I chose to write for the song lyrics prompt, "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac (song lyrics are in the end notes).  
> Also inspired by the legend of Fionn mac Cumhaill and Sadhbh.
> 
> I do not own these characters; I've enjoyed reimagining them in a Celtic myth.

Sakura gently laid her bow aside so she could use both hands to gather her skirts. She cursed how impractical they were, trailing through leaves on the forest floor, creating enough of a stir to break the silence that otherwise filled the woods.

This was definitely not a place in which she wanted to be caught.

A rainy summer and an early frost drove game and then Sakura deep into the forest that edged one side of a dark druid’s fortress. It would be lovely if it weren’t so cursed, she mused, as she tied her skirts together above her knees to ensure greater, quieter mobility.

She stood upright again, adjusting the quiver slung across her back, taking stock of the number of arrows that remained within it. Sakura tugged her hood to cover the top of her head against the chill of the autumn night and grabbed her bow once more.

She’d spied a stag in the early evening and pursued it since. Its behavior was curious, different from others she’d hunted, and the chase was too exciting to give up. Rather than flee from Sakura, it outmaneuvered her, proving it was content with running in the shadows all around her. The challenge was great enough to make her forget her hunger as well as the time, and before she knew it, the sun had set before the stag was caught.

Three times she’d seen it, and each time, the stag’s gaze met hers. The creature’s eyes did more than see, and there was a total lack of fear of her within them. It seemed to enjoy itself as much as Sakura as they tracked and trailed each other. She could almost swear that the deer would be laughing if it could.

Sakura had taken only three silent steps before she stopped abruptly. A wolf howled near-too near to her, and her blood ran cold. She looped her arm through her bow and scrambled up the nearest, tallest tree, ending one hunt to begin another.

Her eyes scanned the forest floor beneath her. “Damn the darkness,” she muttered under her breath, and as if by Sakura’s command, the clouds parted and the moon shone brightly, illuminating a wolf circling the base of the tree she’d climbed; “and damn the light,” she cursed again.

The stag suddenly appeared of its own accord, proving its stealth and mysteriousness once more. It charged out of the shadows and gored the fearsome beast with its horns before the wolf even knew it was there.

However, wolves seldom travel alone, and a second burst from the shadows with its teeth bared. Whether driven by hunger or revenge, it lunged violently toward the stag. Sakura was swifter, however, having already pulled an arrow out of the quiver against her back, and it flew from her bow, controlled, precisely hitting its target.

Sakura and the stag remained still with both wolves felled, waiting until no further threat presented itself. She dropped down from the tree and met the stag’s gaze once more. She set her bow aside as one gesture of peace, approached the stag as a second, and threaded her gloved fingers in its fur as a third. The stag proved its acceptance of their truce when it didn’t run from her again.

“Does that mean I am your champion, or are you mine?” Sakura asked, and to her surprise, the stag’s gaze softened.

“You don’t belong in this place, do you,” she decided aloud rather than wondered, “and neither of us should remain here. Follow me,” Sakura invited as she backed away and shouldered her bow. “There’s a hill overlooking the village out of the dark druid’s reach, where you can hear the wind blow, watch the sun rise, and we’ll see what truths daylight brings us.”

The stag led them to the edge of the forest, and Sakura took the lead when they were beyond it. Her mind turned over one impossible explanation after another for why the creature that followed her seemed more human than beast. She assured herself that either her mentor, the village healer, or her books would hold the answer.

They reached the top of the hill in time to see the sun breach the horizon. Sakura pushed her hood off, shook her hair loose, and tucked her blushed tendrils behind her ears.

“You’ve proven to be _my_ champion, and this is the truth that daylight brings.”

Sakura turned around at the sound of a man’s voice that uttered those words and found him where the stag had stood the moment before. She took a step back from him in surprise but didn’t run when she recognized his eyes. Shoulder-length hair had replaced the horns on his head, and it was the same shade as the stag’s coat.

He reached his hand out to her, threading his fingers in her hair, mimicking the gesture she’d extended to him the night before. His clever, warm eyes betrayed that he was as overpoweringly charmed by her as she was by him. Sakura rested her cheek in his palm and tenderly clasped his arm in her gloved hands, trusting that if she didn’t love right then, that she would never love again.

**Author's Note:**

> "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac
> 
> "Listen to the wind blow, watch the sun rise  
> Running in the shadows, damn your love, damn your lies  
> And if, you don't love me now  
> You will never love me again  
> I can still hear you saying  
> You would never break the chain (Never break the chain)
> 
> And if you don't love me now  
> You will never love me again  
> I can still hear you saying  
> You would never break the chain (Never break the chain)
> 
> Listen to the wind blow, down comes the night  
> Running in the shadows, damn your love, damn your lies  
> Break the silence, damn the dark, damn the light
> 
> And if you don't love me now  
> You will never love me again  
> I can still hear you saying  
> You would never break the chain (Never break the chain)
> 
> And if you don't love me now  
> You will never love me again  
> I can still hear you saying  
> You would never break the chain (Never break the chain)
> 
> And if you don't love me now  
> You will never love me again  
> I can still hear you saying  
> You would never break the chain (Never break the chain)
> 
> Chain keep us together (running in the shadow)  
> Chain keep us together (running in the shadow)  
> Chain keep us together (running in the shadow)  
> Chain keep us together (running in the shadow)  
> Chain keep us together (running in the shadow)  
> Chain keep us together (running in the shadow)"


End file.
